Dawne Mitchell and Tina Luongo, Chief Attorneys for The Legal Aid Society’s Juvenile Rights and Criminal Defense Practices, are setting the record straight on New York State’s Raise the Age law, after Bronx County District Attorney Darcel Clark called for rollbacks in a new op-ed.

“Raise the Age works. The law isn’t the problem — Albany’s failure to release nearly $1 billion in funding needed to implement it is,” write Mitchell and Luongo. “That funding is essential for the services and supports young people rely on, as DA Clark herself acknowledges. But her argument that prosecuting more teens as adults will improve public safety is not supported by the facts.”

Learn more about how Raise the Age has contributed to a decrease in crime here.

Read the full letter here.